


Down and Out

by Hamartian



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Romance, but in the levi/eren fashion, but its cute, im shit at tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3636921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamartian/pseuds/Hamartian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But things are looking up. (In which Eren is an idiot and Levi picks up the pieces.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down and Out

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is the closest I've ever written Levi to his actual personality. Fluffy when you squint. Enjoy. :)

Eren was cold. He was cold, drunk, and pissed off.

Well, the drunk part was wearing off. And he was pissed at himself, so he was pretty much over that, too. The cold was setting in and claiming all of his attention anyway.

He sighed and shoved his hands farther into his pockets. 

"Well, Eren," he said aloud to himself. "What now?"

He didn't know the answer. It was two a.m. and he was somewhere downtown, where he'd stomped off in his pissed off drunken state. All of his friends were back at the bar. His sister was with her friends at the lake or something. He really didn't need to go unsupervised if this is what was going to happen. His feet started moving before his mind could catch up. His feet must have a death wish, he thinks to himself. But since he was already there, he knocked on the apartment door in front of him.

He smiled when he heard shuffling on the other side of the door, followed by a soft thump, followed by angry muttering. He knew when Levi got close because he could hear, though muffled, his cursing.

"What the fuck? It's two a.m.! Whatever the fuck this brat of a person wants, it better be a fucking emergency."

When the door was thrown open, Eren couldn't seem to pull his eyes from his sneakers. 

"It's two in the god damn morning. What?" Levi whisper-shouted. He may be angry, but he was still considerate of his neighbors.

Still, Eren couldn't look at the man in front of him. He didn't know what the hell he was doing there anyway, especially when he knew Levi went to bed practically as soon as the moon came out.

"Eren?" 

Then again, he couldn't resist looking up out of morbid curiosity to see the face that went with a voice that said he name  _so damn softly_. 

Eren met Levi's stare for a second, but Levi's gaze was drawn away by the swollen, purplish area around his eye. The blood still trickling from Eren's nose. The tear in his shirt that revealed a shallow cut, probably from a pocket knife.

Levi took a deep breath and stepped aside silently, allowing enough room for Eren to enter the apartment. Levi waited as Eren took off his shoes and then led him to the bathroom. He gestured for Eren to sit on the side of the bathtub.

Eren watched silently as Levi pulled out a first aid kit.

"Take your shirt off," Levi ordered gruffly.

Eren did just that, slipping it over his head gingerly and tossing it aside.

Levi knelt in front of him and dabbed antiseptic on a sterile cloth.

"Might sting," he murmured through gritted teeth.

Eren's fingers turned white, clutching at the bathtub, but he didn't make a sound. 

 When Levi got done cleaning Eren's wounds and patching him up, he led the younger to his couch and left him there in silence while he made tea.

A half hour later found them in a thick, awkward silence. Eren made not-so-furtive glances at Levi, and Levi clenched his fists tightly.

"I..." Eren started, only to clear his throat and start again.

"I didn't know what to do, ya know? I was at the bar with Jean and the usual crowd. I just needed to get some air. My head was swimming and all... so I was in the alley and out of nowhere, this guy with a knife... well, you get the picture. And before I knew it i was at your front door. I'm really sorry for bothering you at this time of night, Levi. I'm being stupid. I'll see you around," Eren finished explaining lamely. 

He moved to stand and walk back out the way he came, but Levi grabbed his wrist and held him in place. 

"Levi? Look, I said I was sor-"

"Shut up, brat," Levi murmured, distracted.

Eren bit his lip and stared at the back of Levi's head. He waited for him to lift his face in silence, knowing when to push his luck and when to just listen to the elder. Just when Eren was getting impatient, Levi pulled him down to his knees and wrapped his arms around him.

"Um...Levi?"

"You idiot. You think I'd really let you go back out there tonight? You obviously can't handle yourself with those big bad monsters lurking around," Levi explained.

Though his tone was mocking, his voice was incredibly thin and light. His words completely contradicted the tender way he tightened his arms around Eren's frame. 

Levi pulled back and gestured to his bedroom.

"You'll stay here with me tonight. I'm tired. Come on, let's go to bed."

So Eren followed. He slid into bed next to the shorter man. He watched as he leaned over and turned off the light, and he stared at the ceiling uncomfortably while Levi shifted next to him.

He was glad for the darkness when Levi rolled over and wrapped his arm around him gingerly, because the shocked expression he made was one Levi would be sure to make fun of. And then he was especially glad when Levi's hand crept up and caressed his face in the dark. He silently hoped the other wouldn't feel the heat radiating from his cheeks.

"I'm glad you came here tonight, Eren. I'm glad you feel safe with me. Just... Don't let this happen again. I won't be able to keep myself from tracking down every mugger in the city and killing them all for good measure if there's a next time."

"O-okay, Levi."

Just as Eren got his heart rate under control, Levi broke the silence once more.

"I'll be moving your stuff in here this weekend, by the way, brat. If I can't trust you to go out alone, surely I can't trust you to live alone."

"Whaa!?"

"Get some sleep, shit head."

Thank  _God_ it was dark in Levi's room.


End file.
